Garfield (character)
Garfield Arbuckle is the main protagonist and title character of the Garfield ''comic strips, television shows, and film series. History Garfield was born June 19, 1978, in the kitchen of Mamma Leoni's Italian Restaurant weighing 5 lbs and 6 ounces at birth and loved lasagna the day he was born. Ever since then, it has always been his favorite food. However, the restaurant owner of Mamma Leoni's Italian restaurant had to choose between keeping Garfield or closing down his restaurant due to a lack of pasta; so Garfield was sold to a pet shop. Later in his life, Garfield accidentally runs across his mother again one Christmas Eve, and meets his grandfather (from his mother's side) for the first time. On August 19, 1978, when Jon came to the store, he had to choose between Garfield, an iguana, and a pet rock. In the November 14, 1978 comic strip Jon said, "I love cats. I wanted a cat... So what do I do? I go to the pet store and ask for a cat. What do they give me?... A lasagna with fur and fangs." Mischievous Habits Jon often gets calls from neighbors about his cat destroying their flowerbeds or harrasing them. His hatred towards spiders always results with them being whacked with a rolled newspaper or stomped by his foot. He occasionally does the same to other insects such as flies (in some strips, he is shown to hate flies more than spiders). He likes to eat ferns and other types of flowers. Some strips feature common flowers talking to each other, only to be eaten by Garfield in the end. When outside, Garfield enjoys teasing other dogs; they are usually chained up or smaller in size than Garfield. However, he occasionlly faces the misfortune of the chain/rope not being securely tied (resulting in Garfield being chased and/or injured by the dog), or the dogs are not as small/weak as they seem. Next to Odie , Jon is his favorite person to prank. When Jon is asleep, Garfield often goes to extreme measures to wake him up -- whether it be hopping on his stomach, waking him with a goblin's mask on his face, throwing his bed out of the window with him in it, frightening Jon, Knocking Him Off The Bed After Playing The Radio And Talking Like A Drill Sargent With Odie Playing The Cymbals, or even attempting to throttle him (as he does in some early strips), Garfield always seems to have the upper hand on Jon's sleeping habits. On January 8, 2009, he was elected into the bad habit hall of fame. Afterwards, he crumpled up the certificate and tossed it behind him. Personality Garfield is an overweight anthropomorphic orange tabby cat noted for his sheer laziness, sarcasm, and intense passion for food, particularly lasagna. Often throughout the course of the strip Garfield's weight has been poked fun at as an object of ridicule, particularly by the electronic scale which he frequently uses to weigh himself. Garfield usually does not handle insults or commands from the scale (or anybody else) very well, and normally will respond to such remarks with violence or a saucy comeback of some sort, in spite of the fact that the character solely communicates through thought bubbles. Garfield lives with his nerdy, socially awkward owner Jon Arbuckle and Jon's dimwitted pet dog Odie, and derives pleasure from satirically mocking the stupid actions performed by the two of them. Garfield intensely abhors Odie (as obviously expected from the common hatred shared by cats and dogs) and derives joy from causing him physical harm or insulting him, seldom showing empathy for the beagle. Albeit Odie shows Garfield no belligerence of any kind and would never deliberately cause him harm, Garfield despises him nonetheless and is apt to make rude comments based on the utter lack of intelligence displayed by Odie, though at times it is not clear whether Odie actually is stupid or not. However, Odie isn't the only target of Garfield's taunts; he frequently pokes fun at Jon as well for his nerdy behaviors and unpopularity with women, along with his tacky, ridiculous fashion sense. However, Garfield cares for Odie and Jon nonetheless, but he especially shows affection for his beloved teddy bear Pooky, which is frequently seen in his arms or close to its owner. Quotes Futher Reading Mischievous Habits Jon often gets calls from neighbors about his cat destroying their flowerbeds or harrasing them. His hatred towards spiders always results with them being whacked with a rolled newspaper or stomped by his foot. He occasionally does the same to other insects such as flies (in some strips, he is shown to hate flies more than spiders). He likes to eat ferns and other types of flowers. Some strips feature common flowers talking to each other, only to be eaten by Garfield in the end. When outside, Garfield enjoys teasing other dogs; they are usually chained up or smaller in size than Garfield. However, he occasionally faces the misfortune of the chain/rope not being securely tied (resulting in Garfield being chased and/or injured by the dog), or the dogs are not as small/weak as they seem. Next to Odie, Jon is his favorite person to prank. When Jon is asleep, Garfield often goes to extreme measures to wake him up -- whether it be hopping on his stomach, waking him with a goblin's mask on his face, throwing his bed out of the window with him in it, frightening Jon, Knocking Him Off The Bed After Playing The Radio And Talking Like A Drill Sargent With Odie Playing The Cymbals, or even attempting to throttle him (as he does in some early strips), Garfield always seems to have the upper hand on Jon's sleeping habits. On January 8, 2009, he was elected into the bad habit hall of fame. Afterwards, he crumpled up the certificate and tossed it behind him. Common Elements of a Garfield Comic *Garfield sitting on the couch, watching TV. *Garfield making fun of Jon and/or Odie. *Garfield swatting spider(s). *Jon complaining that Garfield doesn't chase mice. *Garfield harrassing the neighbors, and Jon getting calls about it. *Garfield eating ferns, either Jon's or Mrs. Feeny's. *Garfield performing on the fence. *Jon asking a girl out on a date, and Garfield making a witty comment. *Garfield hating Mondays. *Garfield kicking Odie off the table. *Garfield with the cat Arlene. *Nermal being a nuisance to Garfield. *Or, just plain Garfism. Repeatedly used Words Garfield doesn´t really have a catchprase, but he has some certain words he says at several occasions: *'Nice touch': a word often said by Garfield in television. *'I hate Mondays': famously, Mondays seem to hate Garfield even more than he hates them! *'Rats': a word said when something goes wrong. *'Big fat hairy deal': not said as much as the others, but has a video game by the same name. *'Who ever phrase should be dragged out into the street and shot:' said whenever he´s angry at someone. *'We're bachelors, baby': A phrase Garfield started saying when Jon would be lazy about thinks like cleaning. First used after Liz became Jon's girlfriend. *'Feed me': said when he wants to be fed. (This is actually the second thing he said on his very first comic strip.) *'Rat Fink daisies''' *'Pizza' *'Vito ' *'No anchovies!' *'Lasagna' *'Eat your heart out, ''person' *'I'm not overweight. I'm undertall.' *Hey, you're not exactly ms. (phrase) yourself lady!: 'Not said as much as others but it is commonly said When he feels like he's being insulted *''I hate ______. : used when something "disobeys" what Garfield wants it to do.'' *'''The plot thickens: said when something funny happens with Jon (like accidentally showing a scar to a police officer when he thought he was showing it to a nurse) Prances to The Candidates *Odie (since ) *Arlene since 1999 *Nermal since 1983 *Vito since 1978 *Freddy Frog (1984-2004) * Fat Guy (1999-2001) *Jon Arbuckle (since ) Family Over the course of the strip, Gafield has shared information on members of his family: *Uncle Arno: Uncle Arno is known for saying, "Life is like a festival; you have to get out there and enjoy it.". He was run over by a parade. *Uncle Barney: Uncle Barney once went to the vet and came back as Garfield's Aunt Bernice. (comic June 25, 1979) *Uncle Berle: Uncle Berle is described as crazy, and thought that he was a dog. He always chased himself up trees and was constantly exhausted as a result. *Uncle Bernie: Uncle Bernie coined the phrases, "Never listen for a train by putting your ear on a train track.", and "Curiosity killed the cat.", in that order. *Uncle Bob: Uncle Bob used to say, "Slow down, take it easy." before being hit by a bus. *Great Uncle Buchanan: Great Uncle Buchanan appeared in the episode of Garfield and Friends, "Astrocat." He was the first animal to land on the moon. He looks and sounds exactly like Garfield. *Uncle Ed: Described as crazy, Uncle Ed liked to sniff waffle irons, and his face was used for "Tic-Tac-Toe" games. He also always said, "Never belch out loud," and blew out an eyeball one day. However, this may be a different Uncle Ed. *Aunt Edna: Aunt Edna used to say, "Let a smile be your umbrella," until her dentures were blown clean through the garage door by a bolt of lightning. She also married a hyena. *Aunt Evelyn: Aunt Evelyn plucked all her hair from her body to stop shedding. She currently resides in L.A., with a family that thinks that she is a chihuahua. (comic October 10, 1979) *Auntie Em: Auntie Em '''has only been mentioned once, after Garfield fell off a recliner and lost his memory, saying, "Auntie Em, is that you?", although this could be a side effect of the fall and/or a joke. *Uncle Harry: '''Uncle Harry lived in a glass plant in Gas City, Indiana. He was a famous mouser, eventually chasing a mouse into Tank #2. He is now a paperweight in Bayonne, New Jersey. (comic May 23, 1979) *Uncle Hubert: Uncle Hubert once caught a 30-pound canary in Chicago, and was last spotted over Dallas, Texas. For this reason, Garfield claims he does not chase birds. (comic June 23, 1979) *Uncle Leo: Uncle Leo always had a smile until an incident with denture weevils. *Uncle Morty: Uncle Morty was killed by his gluttony, after trying to take a papaya from a silverback gorilla. *Uncle Nick: Uncle Nick loved to destroy things and used to eat chickens whole. There are two conflicting statements to his current status, however. In one strip, it is said that he tried to swallow an ostrich after he mistook it for a chicken, with his last words being, "That's the biggest chicken I ever saw.". In another, it is stated that he is presently a postal employee in Chicago. *Aunt Rockelvia: Aunt Rockelvia was known for saying, "A rolling stone gathers no moss.". She lived for thirty years before she was squashed by a meteor. *Uncle Patrick: Uncle Patrick was famous for the quote, "I regret that I have but nine lives to give to my country." *Great Uncle Ralph: The only mention of Great Uncle Ralph claims that he was a warthog. *Aunt Reba: Garfield reacts with her name when Jon revealed that his tennis racket was strung with catgut. (comic June 06, 1979) *Uncle Roy: Uncle Roy was said to be weird, he underwent a species change operation that transformed him into a dog; He later chased himself to death. *There are also two unnamed uncles and one great uncle. One uncle went to the vet once and had his brain replaced with that of a chicken. The rest of his life was spent sitting on eggs in grocery stores. Another uncle used to play with yarn, and is now a pattern in an angora sweater. The great uncle was a lion who ate a sick monkey. *Cousin Sly: Cousin Sly is a mouser. Appeared in Garfield on the Town. *Raoul: Raoul is Garfield's half-brother, a mouser. *Great Grandfather Oslo: Great Grandfather Oslo was a pioneer. He moved his family thousands of miles across uncharted territory and kept saying, "I hear a can-opener.". *Jarfield: A pile of Garfield's shedding Jon mistook for Garfield's brother for three weeks. *Sonja is his mother. *Garfield's Grandfather is his mother's father. Grapefruit In an early strip, it was shown Garfield has an extreme disliking for grapefruit. He even said the only thing he hated more than grapefruit was hating grapefruit. It causes a mistake in the comics because this would mean his least favorite food is grapefruit, but he has also said his least favorite food was raisins. However, later in the strips he was shown to not really mind grapefruit, as in a 1992 strip, he mentions grapefruit but has a happy look on his face. This may just because he didn't mind it as he got older. Enemies *Spiders *Flies *Mrs. Feeny *Herman Post *Dogs *Plants *Fish *Birds (until the Garfield Show) *Bathroom Scales Likes and dislikes Likes * Lasagna * Pizza * Eating * Sleeping * Kicking Odie * Odie * Tormenting Jon * Scratching curtains and furniture * Eating Jon's plants * Harassing mailmen * Pooky * Killing Jon's goldfish and birds * Befriending mice * Coffee * Pretending to chase mice to trick Jon * Food Dislikes * Mondays * Raisins * Spinach * Dogs * Spiders * Mice as food * Liz (until Jon fell in love with her) * Rain * Birthdays (Actually, he says "It's really the aging that curdles my cheese") * Diets * Baths (This was only shown happening for the first couple years) * Leashes * Birthday Nightmares * Some vegetables * People who know that he hates Mondays Gallery The gallery for Garfield can be viewed here. Category:Animals Category:Characters Category:Cats Category:Male Characters Category:The Garfield Show Category:Garfield Gets Real Category:Garfield Characters Category:Garfield's pet force Category:Garfield's fun fest Category:Garfield and Friends Category:The Garfield Show Characters Category:Garfield A Tale of Two Kitties Category:Film characters Category:Protagonists